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Diving ducks- best way to train?

4K views 19 replies 16 participants last post by  David McLendon 
#1 ·
Hi All,

I was wondering what everyone did to train for crippled/diving ducks on the water. I know that there is a Dokken diving model... any thoughts on this?

Any other techniques?

Thank you in advance for all your responses!

Natalie & Hudson
 
#2 ·
Nuthin', I say Nuthin' like a duckhunter thinking about ducks in July! :cool::cool:

Don't know about the Dokkens' but what we do is take a 10lb mushroom anchor and drop it with some line run through it tied on one end to a bird, (duck), and the other end back to shore. Thrower on adjacent shore blows the duckcall, fires a gunshot like any other mark and you pull the bird under as the dog gets almost to it. Keep it under untill the dog seemingly wants to leave that AOF then let it float back up.

Cast the dog back.
Have it underwater so that the dog can be successful, but successful only until it makes an honest effort, (by sticking his head under), and picks it up.
You need plenty of small dia. line.
 
#3 ·
Accidentally trained for this with a shackled duck on water. It was awesome to watch my girl go after that duck!
 
#15 ·
Shackle the wings of a duck with a loose zip tie, and let the chase begin, they can swim, dive, and flap the wings, but not fly.

^^^ x3^^^^^

we call it a "duck chase" use a small farm pond you can walk all around.
great for 1-3 dogs at a time. fun, no pressure, just get the bird.
is also an attitude pick-me-up for gloomy dogs screwed down from lots of drill work.
 
#4 ·
Shackle the wings of a duck with a loose zip tie, and let the chase begin, they can swim, dive, and flap the wings, but not fly.
 
#6 ·
I run unshackled ducks on my young pups and big dogs. Never felt the need to shackle one I guess. I do pull the first 6-7 primaries on one wing so they can't get airborn. Start on land and work in steps to blind search on the water. The duck will do the rest. I will shoot a duck if the pup can't catch it but it needs to be a long chase, like 20 - 30 minutes before I step in. Don
 
#9 ·
Not something I train for (personally) maybe I should?- I don't believe you can teach experience so I've usually just went out shooting. I try my best to kill the bird ,but It's inevitable your gonna get one that is a diver or a cripple. It can be confusing and awkward for a young dog,and some times other issues come from it,if it happens?
Swimming Recreation Diving Flip (acrobatic) Swimmer
 
#10 ·
I work with mine in the pool and out in the bay. will pull it under and tell um fetch. This has worked for me. This past season my yellow got to do some guided hunts. She worked a wounded bird for 20-30 min diving completly under. It was cool to watch the 13 guys going crazy over seeing it.
 
#11 ·
Wow, thanks for all the ideas. We had one in Junior. He chased it for maybe 15-20 minutes before the judges asked me to call him in... it was very, very active and would dive, and then pop out another 10-15 yards, he would chase again, lather-rinse-repeat, until he was about 250 yards out. The judges were super kind and let him re-run the mark since he put up a good hunt. He stuck his head under a few times to go after it but he just couldn't quite get there fact enough. And, it was a nightmare trying to call him off of it because he could see it, and really wanted it. I think he probably would have kept going after it until he was exhausted and drowned.

I was just thinking if it happened again at a SH or MH test, we would not expect the same level of forgiveness. Unfortunately, I don't hunt... and I think it really leaves a variety of "scenarios" that my dog never gets to see because of it... so I try to think about these types of things and plan in advance. In general, I know that I don't get enough live flyers for him (probably couldn't hit the broad side of a barn myself!), so I specifically try to work on what I think might be difficult concepts that I can set up. I like the idea of shackled ducks... can someone elaborate on how you apply the zip tie? I'm having trouble visualizing it... like around the body so the wings are trapped to the body or behind the back, so they can still flap?
 
#13 ·
Zip tie the feet at first and pull all the flight feathers out so they cant fly
When he/she is retrieving it consistantly no longer zip tie the feet
But he advised I wld do this on land at first and avoid big water cause a shackled duck can go on for
A while unlike a cripples duck who is shot !
 
#14 ·
I use the weight off a jerk rig tied to a bumper or a Doken. If you do use a shackled duck it's a great show but bring lunch as it could be a long show.
 
#18 ·
You can also just blindfold the duck and Not shackle or pull feathers. You can blindfold the duck using vet wrap and a small piece of tape on the end (don't cover the nostrils!). The blindfolded duck will dive but will not swim very far away and will pop back up, this gives the beginning dogs a very good chance of success, then move onto the loosely shackled ducks (not blindfolded) for the bit more experienced dogs. You can also teach your dog to dive after ducks, by starting with a bumper held in hand at waters surface and having them retrieve it then hold it just a 1/2 inch below the waters surface then an inch then 2 inches then 3 etc..then moving on to a weighted bumper tossed into a shallow pool etc..

I always love dogs that dive after the ducks.
 
#19 ·
I have used the Dokken. It works well.
 
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